The MicStick D production-ready reference design from Micronas enables watching and controlling live DVB-T broadcasts on any USB 2-equipped desktop and notebook PC. The design is built around a Micronas DRX 3975D COFDM demodulator, a Microtune MicroTuner MT2060 digital TV tuner, and a Cypress EZ-USB FX2LP controller.
DRX 3975D is the first COFDM demodulator to substantially exceed all requirements of the NorDig-Unified v1.0.2 Receiver Specification. This allows a single design for MicStickD to be compatible with all DVB-T reception standards worldwide. MicStickD enables you to freely roam across the country or throughout your home.
"We are pleased to be teaming with Microtune. Their MT2060 TV tuner chip enables us to develop these innovative PC TV products which excel in radio frequency capacity, miniature size and design flexibility," said Kai Scheffer of Micronas. "Microtune's RF expertise combines with the state-of-the-art noise crunching technology of our demodulator to deliver excellent picture quality in the electronically noise-challenged environment of PCs, mobile phones, and PDAs."
"Micronas' new silicon-based solution is designed to transform the PC into a virtual TV, while also enabling digital radio, teletext, and TV recording to the hard drive," added Dirk Bilgram of Microtune. "MicStickD features high-performance tuners and demodulators that enable the highest levels of functional integration, front-end flexibility, and exceptional digital reception performance."
DRX 3975D uses advanced digital filtering techniques, in concert with a powerful A/D converter and PLL configuration, to ensure a crisp viewing experience even under challenging adjacent channel conditions. A progressive digital algorithm in the channel estimator provides exceptional results in multipath and dynamic echo conditions that helps with single frequency networks and indoor reception.
The Microtune MT2060 single-chip tuner is engineered to combine low power consumption with excellent radio frequency performance. Its single 16-MHz crystal is sufficient to provide the clock signal for both the MT2060 and DRX 3975D. The Cypress EZ-USB FX2LP controller handles the high data rate of digital television.
All of these features combine to deliver top-quality TV images from a USB device measuring only 0.9" by 2.5".
The MicStickD tuner and capture driver is compliant with the Microsoft Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA) standard for Windows. The USB tuner is bus-powered.
The MicStickD reference design comes complete with schematics, Gerber files, Protel design files, a bill-of-materials, and driver software.
Micronas supplies IC and sensor system solutions for consumer and automotive electronics.